"How you feeling baby," Kevin asked me as he headed into the kitchen.
"I'm excited, but also a little nervous. I just hope everything goes well with the baby."
"It will," Kevin reassured me, "and no matter what imma be right there with you," he said kissing me on the cheek.
..
An hour later we arrived at the doctor's office. I signed in and went to sit in the waiting area with Kevin. We quietly talked amongst ourselves until my name was called.
"James," a nurse called out. "That's us," I said to Kevin. We stood up and followed the nurse back to the examination room. She gave me a gown to put on. "Dr. Mackey will be with you in a few minutes," she said before leaving out.
I quickly changed and put on the gown. I anxiously sat down on the examination table as we waited for Dr. Mackey to come in.
"Wow. This just got real," I said to Kevin as I looked around the room.
"I know. It's really hitting me that we're about to be parents."
I looked down at Kevin. "Are we ready for this?"
"Hell no," Kevin laughed, "but we gon' get ready." Kevin grabbed my hand and squeezed it. "Relax mama. I'm right here with you." I smiled at him. "Thank you."
Just then the door opened. "Ms. James we meet again," Dr. Mackey said shutting the door behind her. She walked over to me.
I smiled in her direction. "It appears so. How are you?"
"I'm well." She looked over at Kevin sitting down and smiled at him. Mr. Davis it's good to see you again."
Kevin gave a light chuckle. "Likewise Doctor."
Dr. Mackey gave her attention back to me. She instructed me to lay back and put my feet in the stirrups. "When I first told you you were pregnant you were in a bit of a shock. I'm assuming you've adjusted well."
"Yes ma'am."
"That's good." Dr. Mackey put the ultrasound gel on the transducer. "You may feel a little pressure," she said before sliding the probe inside of me. She waited for the image to show up on the monitor. "You're six weeks now so that means that you can hear the heartbeat." We waited in silence for a moment. "I hear it," I grinned as I looked over at Kevin. He grabbed my hand and smiled. "Congratulations. You both have a healthy baby in there," Dr. Mackey grinned. "Would you like sonogram pictures?"
"Yes. That would be great," I said giddily. Dr. Mackey removed the transducer and got up out of her seat. She placed it on the table to the left of me and threw her gloves in the trash can. "You can go ahead and get dressed Ms. James. I'll be back in a second."
"Okay," I said sliding off the table. I got dressed when she left. "How you feeling," Kevin asked me. I looked over at him and grinned. "I'm feeling much better. Relieved actually. So far it's a healthy pregnancy," I smiled.
Dr. Mackey came back in a few minutes later with the sonogram. "Here you go," she said handing them to me. "Thank you so much," I gushed. I handed one to Kevin so he could see a close up of the baby.
"Do you have any questions for me?"
"No. I think I'm good." She looked over at Kevin. "What about you dad?" Kevin chuckled lightly and smiled. "What do I need to do to help make this transition as easy as possible for her?"
"Excellent question," Dr. Mackey replied. "I like him," she whispered to me. We laughed. "Because Alyssa is in the early stages of her pregnancy, her needs shouldn't be too demanding," she said turning to smile at me, "but just continue to support her by coming to all of the doctor visits. Oh. And make sure that she stays on top of her prenatal vitamins. That's really important. I actually have a few recommendations for her. Other than that just be there for whatever she needs, be it a three a.m. food run or an afternoon foot rub. Do whatever you can to make her feel comfortable, safe, and loved. I can't stress to you enough how crucial that is. Just keep in mind that your support will be of immense help to Alyssa and will help to ensure a healthy and stress free pregnancy."
"Alright. Got it. Thank you Dr. Mackey. I appreciate it," Kevin replied.
"You're welcome. Glad I could help," she grinned. "Here's a list of prenatal vitamins that I recommend. If you have any further questions feel free to text or call me on my work cell between the hours of four and six p.m. My number is listed on the bottom of the paper."
"Okay. Thank you," I said perking up.
"No problem. You can schedule your next appointment with the receptionist at the front desk. Have a good day guys," she said as she headed out the door.
"You too," we replied.
After scheduling our next appointment Kevin and I headed out.
As we were approaching Kevin's car my FaceTime rang. I looked at the caller ID and nearly dropped my phone. "Oh my goodness! It's Dominique. What do I do," I said getting into the car. Kevin put the key in the ignition and laughed. "Answer it," he said looking at me.
Earlier in the week I decided to text Dominique back. She was so excited that I had replied. She seemed like a really sweet girl and after texting her for a few days I was actually a little excited to meet her. I told her that she could reach out to me whenever she wanted, but I didn't think that she'd FaceTime me and especially not this soon.
"Babe you gonna answer it," Kevin asked me as he watched me stare down at the phone.
"Yeah," I said slowly, "yeah. I'm going to answer it." I swiped the answer button and watched as Dominique appeared on the screen. When she saw me she started tearing up.
"Oh my goodness. Hi," she cried. "Dad was right. We do look alike," she chuckled. I smiled at her. Dominique wiped her face. "I am so sorry. I didn't mean to get all emotional on you like this I just can't believe that I'm actually looking at you."
I sniffed and wiped my eyes. "Girl now you got me crying," I laughed. "How are you?"
"I'm good," she beamed. "I just---it's you! I'm looking at you! I can't believe it."
Kevin laughed from the drivers side.
"Oh man. I'm sorry. I didn't consider that you'd be with someone," she said.
"It's fine. It's just my fiancé, Kevin. We're in the car. We just came from a doctors appointment."
"Oh," Dominique said a little concerned.
The look on her face made me laugh. "No need to worry," I grinned. "I'm in good health. I'm pregnant actually," I reassured her. "Six weeks."
"Oh my goodness. Congratulations," she said giddily.
"Thank you," I grinned.
She gave me a small smile back. "I have to be honest with you," Dominique continued, "I wasn't sure that you'd answer."
My brows furrowed. "Really? Why not?"
She looked hesitant to speak. I looked at her and sighed. "Dominick. He told you didn't he?" Dominique winced a little. "Yeah," she said slowly.
"It's okay. I half expected him to tell you anyway. I'm sorry if my initial response was a let down."
"It was a little, but I get it. I'm just glad that we got to do this," she said pointing between her and I. I smiled back at her. "Me too."
Her face lit up. Seeing her happy made me happy. Her joy was infectious. I laughed.
"What," she said cheerily.
"You're just so---" I looked around for the word, "vibrant!"
She beamed. "Oh my goodness! Thank you. I'm just really excited to see you that's all."
I couldn't stop grinning at her. "I'm so happy that you called.
She smiled in agreement. "Well, I didn't call to keep you. I'll let you get back to your fiancé."
"Okay Dominique. I promise I won't be a stranger. Next time I'll call you."
She beamed. "Okay. See you later Alyssa."
I turned off my phone screen after we hung up. I sat back in my seat satisfied and looked over at Kevin with a grin. "What," he smiled as he quickly looked in my direction.
"That went really well. I like her."
"I knew you would," Kevin said grabbing my hand and kissing the back of it.
I looked out of the window and smiled to myself.
"Maybe there is an upside to all of this afterall," I thought.